Most Innovative Companies

AKQA

Lists

2009: Advertising and Marketing

2008: Top 50

Stories about AKQA

Designers, want to change the world? Read this first

Argodesign’s Mehera O’Brien knows firsthand the challenges of social innovation. Here, she reveals the shortcomings of the fail fast mentality, what to do when clients want to solve the wrong problem, and why technology can’t fix everything.

Designers, want to change the world? Read this first

Bring your old clothes and this in-store recycling machine will turn them into something new

The Looop machine—a winner of Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards—cleans and shreds old fabric, spins it into yarn, and then knits into a new product. In a day.

Bring your old clothes and this in-store recycling machine will turn them into something new

Hear the new experience designed to bring people who are blind into the excitement of a tennis match

Tennis is just a starting point. This technology could soon allow visually impaired people around the world to better experience the joy of live sports.

Hear the new experience designed to bring people who are blind into the excitement of a tennis match

Hear what Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ would sound like in a post-climate-change world

The weather-inspired classical music piece has been upgraded to reflect how the climate will be in the future, with everything from violent storms to wildfires to complete silence when rising sea levels drown cities.

Hear what Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ would sound like in a post-climate-change world

Calling the next Greta Thunberg: This kid-friendly app makes climate advocacy fun

The result is an endearing Pixar-ification of Mother Earth in dire straits.

Calling the next Greta Thunberg: This kid-friendly app makes climate advocacy fun

A Week In Advertising’s Double-Edge Sword Of Gender Equality

The brand and ad work around International Women’s Day and an industry confronting its own demons.

A Week In Advertising’s Double-Edge Sword Of Gender Equality

Now You Can Buy Your Buddy A Beer On Facebook

Budweiser teams with the social network to connect digital drinking buddies.

Now You Can Buy Your Buddy A Beer On Facebook

A Startup That Promises To Deliver What Women Really Want: Sexy Men As Servants

These ad creatives have launched a new service to replace the male stripper.

A Startup That Promises To Deliver What Women Really Want: Sexy Men As Servants

The (Ad) Kids Are Alright: Future Lions Winners Named At Cannes

The ninth annual student competition includes hypothetical work for brands like Apple, Google, and IBM.

The (Ad) Kids Are Alright: Future Lions Winners Named At Cannes

Advertising’s Big Names Become Stock Photo Cartoons In Cannes Campaign

Photographer Max Oppenheim uses over-enthusiastic stock photo fun to promote the annual festival of brand creativity.

Advertising’s Big Names Become Stock Photo Cartoons In Cannes Campaign

This New Elder Scrolls Trailer Will Get You Ready For Battle

Latest teaser stokes anticipation for award-winning game franchise’s newest chapter release.

This New Elder Scrolls Trailer Will Get You Ready For Battle

When New Companies Tap Timeless Values, Consumers Respond

Timeless values applied via new technology can democratize markets and extend access to experiences, goods, and services. Here are some companies getting that right.

When New Companies Tap Timeless Values, Consumers Respond

The WWF’s Brilliant New App Lets You Safely Swipe At Tigers, Rhinos, And More

The World Wildlife Fund’s new iPad app serves up interesting factoids on endangered species–and features a wealth of fantastic design details.

The WWF’s Brilliant New App Lets You Safely Swipe At Tigers, Rhinos, And More

A WWF App Teaches Us About Endangered Species…and Folding Them into Memorable Origami Art

World Wildlife Fund’s iPad app brings users closer than ever to some of the world’s rarest creatures and even lets them make origami portraits.

A WWF App Teaches Us About Endangered Species…and Folding Them into Memorable Origami Art

Pinterest is Open for Business–So What’s Next For Brands?

Marketing players weigh in on Pinterest’s recent embrace of business pages.

Pinterest is Open for Business–So What’s Next For Brands?

Xbox’s “Fable” Has Hex Appeal; Lets You Destroy Websites

An online campaign for Xbox game “Fable: The Journey” lets users cast destructive spells on lesser websites via a Web Hexer.

Xbox’s “Fable” Has Hex Appeal; Lets You Destroy Websites

Note To Agencies: It’s Time To Find Your Unselfish Gene

AKQA executive creative development director Andy Hood discusses how, for agencies on the path to product development, metrics need to make room for the long-term play.

Note To Agencies: It’s Time To Find Your Unselfish Gene

Dancing In The Cloud: Dance Central 2 App Makes Your Best Moves Social

Challenge your friends to a digital dance-off with the Dance*Cam app…just don’t get served.

Dancing In The Cloud: Dance Central 2 App Makes Your Best Moves Social

The Case For Girls: A Mock Ad Aims To Become A Legitimate Campaign With Global Impact

Digital agency AKQA created a mock ad campaign to support baby girls in China. Their idea was so powerful, the team created a website, video, and a mobilizing worldwide event around their concept: “You Are.”

The Case For Girls: A Mock Ad Aims To Become A Legitimate Campaign With Global Impact

Fast Company Magazine

The Birth Of An Idea: Ads To Rebrand Girls

Fast Company asked several of the most creative ad agencies in the world to rebrand baby girls. Their mock campaigns recast girls as the No. 1 choice for consumers from China to the U.S.

The Birth Of An Idea: Ads To Rebrand Girls

Impact

These modular pop-up plastic-sorting facilities can help end ‘recycling deserts’

Climate scientists demand PR firms stop helping fossil fuel companies cover up their impact

Every driver in London soon might have to pay a fee any time they take a car trip

News

Tripadvisor’s trending destinations show how travel tastes are changing in 2022

IRS login makes you take a selfie for this security company you’ve never heard of

Want more Instagram likes? Marketing scholars have discovered a formula for the perfect image

Co.Design

Ralph Lauren’s Olympic jackets automatically adapt to athletes’ body temp

This startup is turning nonrecyclable plastic into building blocks fit for construction

The secret to creating new public parks out of thin air? Foam

Work Life

Nominate queer women and nonbinary people transforming business

Burned out and isolated: How to get through to your struggling Gen Z workers

How to talk about upskilling at a performance review or job interview